#Michelle Williams Cast As Peggy Lee in Todd Haynes-Directed Biopic

Michelle Williams has been cast as Peggy Lee in a forthcoming biopic, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Todd Haynes, who previously worked with Williams on the Bob Dylan-centric I’m Not Here, is set to direct the project.  

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Fever is based on a Nora Ephron screenplay, but that the project was shelved after her death in 2012. Billboard reports that Billie Eilish is also in talks to join Fever as an executive producer. Peggy Lee established herself as a big-band singer in the early 1940s, writing nearly 300 songs and maintaining a prolific career as a songwriter and entertainer. Her many hits included “Fever,” “Is That All There Is,” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” She died in 2002 at age 81.

In 2017, Deadline reported that Williams had been cast as Janis Joplin in a biopic approved by the late singer’s estate. The movie had permission to use two dozen of Joplin’s songs, but no further release details have been announced.